Photographer's Note

The people of Phnom Pai wait for their annual festival, the Rocket festival, to begin. The procession of rockets will begin soon and each village will process down the high street demonstration their culture and showing off their rockets. This festival is held before the monsoon. It is a pre-Buddhist festivity and very much a fertility rite. Traditionally, the rokets were fire off, to awaken the Rain Dragon to send the rain. These are the people of Isarn. The finest people I know. They are rice farmers earning a poor living in an harsh climate. But they are happy, smiling, affectionate, contented and welcoming. They do most of the hard, dirty and low paid work in Thailand but they are full of joy and pride. Today they wild go wild in the celebration of their big day.